Cutaneous Syringoma: A Clinicopathologic Study of 34 New Cases and Review of the Literature

BACKGROUND: Syringoma is a benign adnexal tumor derived from intraepidermal eccrine duct. AIM: The aim of the study is to report the experience concerning syringoma by reviewing the clinical and histopathologic features of a series of 34 histologically diagnosed syringoma patients observed over a period of six years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-four patients were sorted into two groups, localized and generalized syringoma, according to the Friedman and Butler classification. Different histopathologic findings were recorded in specially designed questionnaires for further analysis. RESULTS: Ninety-seven percent of the patients were females with the mean age of 27.6 years. The mean duration of the lesions before the presentations was six years. The diagnosis of syringoma was only considered in 23 patients (67.6%) and was the initial diagnosis in only 13 (38.2%) patients. All histological findings were seen more common in our cases. in comparison to the documented cases in the literature. Clear cell change of epithelial eccrine cells was 85.2% and there was no difference in the histopathological findings in the two groups. Our patients with generalized syringoma (GS) had a considerable lower age of onset than the ones with localized syringoma (LS) (P = 0.027). CONCLUSION: Our patients with generalized syringoma were younger than the ones with localized syringoma. Distribution of the generalized syringoma was mainly in the chest and neck followed by the forearms whereas localized syringoma was mostly confined to the face, axilla and genitalia. There were also some conditions associated with our cases including sarcoidosis, calcinosis cutis and basal cell carcinoma.